


The Road to the Endgame

by The_Ravenmother



Category: Loki - Fandom, MCU, Marvel
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Chitauri - Freeform, F/M, Magic, New York, Science, Stark Industries, Teleportation, thanos - Freeform, tony stark - Freeform, viktor the cat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-01 02:16:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21331405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Ravenmother/pseuds/The_Ravenmother
Summary: Evan gets a big surprise when finally finishing a major work in progress during her off time from Stark Industries.
Kudos: 3





	1. The Teleporter

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to click and possibly read my first attempt at getting the ramblings of my mind down in written form. I am in no way a professional and have no interest in really doing much more outside of this (unless someone absolutely takes to liking what I would consider very poor writing lol- my skills lie more in the artistic aspect but I figured writing this all down may help me in some form!) Sorry for anything maybe out of place or misspellings! Thanks again and I hope you enjoy! More chapters to come! - Em

  
  


It was amazing how much more work could actively be done during a time of silence. Or maybe it was more so that the scientist felt more relaxed at her table in the luxury of her own apartment, the balcony open, letting the cool breeze and distant sounds of the city below allowing that perfect meditation of white noise that made time escape her.

New York, the city that never sleeps.

After moving here, she never realized how she’d hold true to the ever so popular catchphrase. But here she was, almost half past two in the morning and she was still fiddling with this project she had tasked herself with nearly nine months before.

Evangeline Lorn Hammer had been at Stark Industries now for almost an entire year, and being able to devote herself fully to science and astrophysics like she had dreamed was nearly everything she had wanted to accomplish in life. 

Next to trying to develop something along the lines of a Trans- dimensional Matter Transporter. Well, a teleporter. But trying to explain something like that had everyone in her department laughing at her. 

That was the toughest part of her job. As friendly and casual as she was, she had a hard time working with those around her, mostly because they just didn’t understand her or questioned her intelligence. They didn’t understand her methodology or her obscure theories or even the science that she tried to explain that led her to her conclusions. She was ‘too young to be in Starks employ’ Or ‘too optimistic to what science could really accomplish’. She felt that the only people on her side were Stark himself and Ms. Potts, who admittedly confessed she didn’t even know half of what Evan was trying to explain. But she listened, and offered advice and council with Tony in the free time he had to spend with her. Sometimes that made it easier, often times harder, knowing their time together was always cut short and the theories and hypothesis would never reach the potential she herself needed guidance with. 

So this was her, in her time off, trying to substitute this and that to make what she thought would work, work.

She could feel the restlessness eat at her, tightening a screw here, snipping and repairing wires there, mind racing through every possible outcome she could possibly think of if this actually worked.

‘Of course it’ll work.’ She could hear her father’s positivity giving her the courage to press on and not second guess herself.

“Ok.”

She put everything down as her cat looked at her questioningly from the top of it’s lazed position on the couch and yawned.

Stretching for a moment, she looked at her small wristwatch and sighed, pushing her glasses from her face to rub away the idea of sleep.

“So Viktor, what’s the first step?” She stood, reaching for the stack of papers neatly organized and notated, indicating her entire plan of action.

She flipped through them caringly, Viktor chirping in question as she excitedly found the right resource.

“So, all we’re doing is focusing on one  _ tiny _ piece of matter… nothing crazy. Space rocks, dust even.” She took the piece she had been diligently working on from the table and brought it to a much bigger contraption in her study on the same floor.

To describe the amount of work that had gone into this probably would have taken the average enthusiast years to contemplate, but she eyed all of her hard work for a moment and smiled proudly before fixing the now finished piece to its proper housing. 

She pressed against various parts of the larger contraption getting everything to fit snugly and securely before pulling up the systems scans and connecting it to her somewhat outdated looking modified computer.

Bringing her glasses back to the bridge of her nose, she eyed over the various equations that popped up as she ran diagnostics, everything reading green and ready to go.

“ I feel like this might be easier than I originally anticipated,” she smiled to Viktor as he peeked into the room curiously.

She rolled up the sleeves to her cardigan and began typing frivolously in excitement as the final readouts printed, each sheet becoming more riddled with numbers than the last. She gave one final scan, checking and double checking herself before returning back to her teleporter.

She was diligent yet steadfast in typing in the coordinates, checking behind herself quickly to make sure she didn’t accidentally try and beam in the moon from a secondary solar system.

As she pressed the final number, the smaller device lit up a neon green, indicating all of the numbers had checked out and her coordinate was accepted.

There was no second thought as she flipped open the switch casing and clicked ‘OK’ as a loud beep sounded. She stood back for a second and eagerly waited as the machine began whir, a second louder beep sounding, hitting her with an intensity she didn’t expect. When the third final beep sounded, there was a flash and something she’d equate to a sonic pulse pushed her back out the room and off her feet.

The sounds of the machine lessened and the smoke that filled the room slightly parted, the red light opposite the green blinking almost as if it was a singular traffic light.

Evan groaned, Viktor pawing at her sleeve to make sure she had been ok.

She sat up from the floor, rubbing her neck as she looked towards the machine, something almost resonating from the now dark room.

She could tell her computer was still on, green lights indicating success bouncing off of the books and shelves that filled the study. Maybe the energy surge killed the bulbs to the fixture? 

She turned behind her to see her kitchen lights still lit and pondered if they had just gone out at the wrong time.

But then she paused, the hair on the back of her neck standing up as Viktor’s pur went silent and the noise of the machine finally died.

There was something in here. Something breathing.

Evan turned back to her invention slowly, pushing herself from the ground as Viktor ran off back into the living room. She felt like she had busted her lip, fingers touching gently to the flesh throbbing with the quick paced beating of her heart. For a moment she squinted back to the dark machine in question, wondering if it itself was making the noise as she dusted herself off.

And there it was, a low soft moan of pain that resonated from in front of her which nearly scared her out of her skin.

“Ooooh holy shit…” she covered her mouth as she exclaimed softly in fear, the lights now flickering above her.

When she looked up, the light returned without disturbance, yet a circular black ring of what appeared to be soot now defaced the ceiling and she cursed herself for how she was going to fix it. 

She closed her eyes, mind racing harder than it had ever before and clapped her hands behind her head, bending over in pained confusion.

When she opened her eyes, they were met with the mound of some form which appeared only to be human. A human ... dressed for a Halloween party?

She approached with caution before leaning over it, hoping it was only her eyes playing tricks on her and it was just a breathing sounding human looking rock. A rock much bigger than she anticipated bringing into her home. Full of cosmic organisms that would probably turn into some weird zombie virus and kill off the entire planet.

‘Ok, ok… calm down…’ she told herself, taking in a deep breath before kneeling beside whatever the hell she was looking at.

Upon further inspection, it was clearly humanoid, dark hair, clad in what she could only assume was leather armor? 

‘Did I accidentally make a time machine?’ She joked to herself, which made her feel a little better.

The being groaned again, and Evan could see it start to move and instinctively she wrapped her arm around it and offered help.

“H-hey… are you alright?” Her voice was soft and caring, but the touch of her made the other almost jump as they both began to stand to their feet.

It shakes its head in disagreement before it speaks and she almost drops them in hearing their voice.

“Wha… what... happened?” Raspy, cold almost, yet endearing thanks nestles deep in the back of his throat as Evan tries to find the best way to possibly describe what just took place.

“It’s… complicated…” she started, trying to sound confident enough in herself to not terrify him more than he probably already was.

“But you’re safe. I’ve got you.” If she only knew how true her words really were to him in that moment.

  
  


—————————

  
  


When she managed to get the stranger into the spare room, Viktor returned to spy intently, keeping his distance from the visitor.

Evan was breathless when she finally saw the man’s face in the light of the room, his strong features only even more strongly accented by the sterling blue eyes that were drowsy with sleep and confusion. His jaw was cut as his brow was stiff, and a stern look on his face was a mixture of pure exhaustion and fear, twisted with what seemed like relief when he managed to sit on the bed. His eyes seemed so brilliant in contrast of the warm lighting of the room and they took in his surroundings as he started regaining what strength he had left. A raspy sigh escaped him as he relaxed his body, his jacket falling off almost immediately as Evan went to assist him.

She hadn’t contemplated the extent of force and projection a body would have sustained through travel and judging by his exhaustion she considered he could have even been someone from another system, but she didn’t want to irritate him further than he may have been with questioning even he may not know the answers to.

She helped him remove his coat completely to an underlayer that was almost just as extravagant, and the frustration he seemed to face trying to undo everything showed more so as he half gave up trying to undress. She smiled at him, offering more assistance and he did nothing to resist her, allowing her to remove nearly everything except his pants and undershirt. 

“You’ve endured a form of trans-dimensional matter transportation-“ she started explaining, laying him back into the bed once he was easier to manage, hand pressing against his side checking for anything possibly broken.

“Teleportation…” he said bluntly and her brow raised excitedly.

“Are you familiar with how it works?” She tried to keep her collected composure as she lifted his shirt to check his torso, which he didn’t seem to mind.

“Not by Midgardian standards, but somewhat.” This was his attempt at a joke as he chuckled and she smiled shyly. 

‘Midgardian, huh?’ She thought as she continued to squeeze between his ribs. She was surprised at how quickly he was able to keep up with her, his sarcasm...or charm -she was probably confusing the two- but it made her feel something she hadn’t considered for quite some time.

“Well, thankfully nothing seems to be broken,” she gently pulled his shirt back down and motioned to his wrists and elbows.” But I’m confused by the ligature marks and scratches on your face…” he managed himself upright, watching her face go from matter-of-fact to concern, and then softened when she looked back to him, eyes locking on hers. Evan was so caught up in his intensity she nearly flinched at feeling his hand cup her cheek, strong yet gentle thumb combing over the split in her lip so graciously given to her by the floor.

Time stood still around them as she took in every feature of his face; the way his hair fell, the soft breath that quietly passed over parted lips, the haunting oceanic blue that seemed to swirl with mischief. Words escaped her as his eyes surveyed her.

They held the moment for what seemed an eternity before he spoke, hand still to her face, thumb tucked now under her chin and she saw his eyebrow raise with his words.

“ _ Who are you _ ?”

Evan was so caught off guard by his question her brain could barely comprehend the meaning of his inquiry. She had been so lost in the silence that her returned blink seemed to echo in her head.

“Oh…” she drew back from him somewhat uncomfortably and he released her, eyes still intent on her as he leaned back in the bed.

“I’m so rude…” she cleared her throat as Viktor meowed suspiciously, and she sat up more straight to properly introduce herself.

“My name is Evangeline. Everyone just calls me Evan.”

“And who’s everyone?” The man’s brow raised further in curious question and she was almost embarrassed by her answer.

“Ahhhhh well… No one, really….” she swallowed before really trying to explain herself but the empathy on the man’s face seemed to speak in relation to what she was thinking.

“I’m a scientist…” she started but corrected herself, “A  _ nobody _ scientist. But I’m happy with what I do.” She pushed her glasses back up as her hands covered her face and a long, sad sigh escaped her. The man could tell she was uncomfortable, maybe even lonely which might explain her over-eagerness to help correct what someone might have considered a mistake. Even a miscalculation?

“A  _ happy _ nobody scientist with… no friends, who invents teleportation devices and zaps strange men into her…” he looked around and out past her through the door before drawing his conclusion.”...modest yet empty apartment?” The smile on his face indicated his joke and she burst into laughter.

“Sure, we’ll go with that.” This was either admittance or confidence but he valued her honesty.

“Ok, then,  _ Evan… _ ” he put extra emphasis into saying her name, and she smiled at him sweetly as he finished. “I am Loki of Asgard.” 

She scanned her thoughts as she really couldn’t believe what he had just said and tried to keep the inquiry as short and polite as possible.

“As in the Norse God of Mischief, Loki?”

The first part of his relief came from her not asking if he was Thor’s brother and he instantly took to liking her more, the second, knowing she must have caught his comment on her being Midgardian. She  _ was _ smart.

“The very same.”

A part of her wanted to run out of her apartment and never look back at the destruction she might of just brought upon herself but one part really….. genuinely felt relaxed with knowing this. She felt comfortable, easy, herself.

“Well… it’s very nice to meet you, Loki of Asgard. I’m sorry I zapped you into my apartment.”

His sincere laughter that followed her apology made her happy that she didn’t originally go with the plan of running out and she relaxed herself even more.

“I should be the one thanking you, actually.” His head leant against the headboard as he offered explanation, eyes closing in trying to find the right words as to not possibly scare her.

“Asgard….. has been at war with the variety of Realms housed in the Great Tree.”

“Yggdrasil…” her matter of fact tone was actually cute to him and he nodded, thankful she knew that she had some idea of what he was going to try and explain.

“I’ve… not been the best of hosts but…” his thoughts trailed to his brother and Father and how unwelcoming things became between them and Loki shook his head.

“I was captured and in an effort to be used as their pawn in a game I didn’t want to be a part of…. I simply became their prisoner. You rescued me, if you look at it like I do. So I’m thankful you did.” She was surprised he didn’t go into more detail but she respected what privacy he kept and allowed him the luxury she could afford to give him.

“Well, you’re not MY prisoner.” She started softly, getting up from the bed to go into the closet. She gathered up an extra blanket and pillow for him and offered it to him as she decided that the later it got, the less rest the both of them would get.

“If I can find a way to send you to where you want to go once you feel fit to do so than I’ll be happy to assist you in any way I can.” Her honesty was what made her even more beautiful and the Asgardian grinned as felt comfort in the truth of her voice.

“I appreciate your hospitality, it’s…” he sat up and stumbled to find the right words.

“Something that’s been unknown to me for quite some time.”

“You’re more than welcome to anything I can offer. It might not be up to Asgardian standards,” she laughed, opening up her arms to the room in exuberant enthusiasm.

“But it’s home and it’s warm and has a bathroom and a stunning view.” He couldn’t remember the last time he felt as happy as he did in the company of someone so welcoming and he had wondered if he had ever experienced this feeling at all and it was more appreciated than he could find the words for.

“Thank you.”

“If you need anything, I’ll just be in the other room so don’t hesitate to call for me if you need help. Or water. Or food. Just rest now, you need it.” She smiled again before turning off the light in compliance with his nod, a soft good night coming from him as he shifted and almost instantly fell asleep.

Viktor, her cat, gave one final sniff before following Evan out of the room and back into her study, which she pondered over momentarily before shaking her head and turning off the screen of her computer.

“We’ll worry about that in the morning, bud.” Walking out of the room she paused, looking back in almost disbelief to the cracked door of her guest. She was too excited to sleep. Maybe he  _ was _ a Norse god, maybe he wasn’t but… she felt no threat- he didn’t seem to have any weapons and his demeanor was so casual and thankful, which gave her no second thought to question him. On one hand, he was a complete stranger and on the other- the device worked! But to what expense? She didn’t even consider what aftermath she’d have to look into as she had been too focused on trying to put the thing together let alone it work on her first test. She didn’t like how that sounded. HE wasn’t a test or a subject- he was a person with feelings and goals and a life- she shook her head before her thoughts tried running away again and as she shut the light off to the study, she gave a concerned sigh.

This wasn’t a permanent arrangement- he’d eventually want to leave and go to where his next adventure would take him and she almost felt sad she started this experiment in the first place.

They never stay for long- they being their personalities or intentions or they even as what she could eventually consider a friend and the thought made her sick knowing she’d end up being alone again at some point. But she didn’t hold it against him. There was nothing wrong with him and she knew the variable in her story would never change because she WAS that variable. As her thoughts raced, she made it to the comfort of her sofa and laid down with another sigh as the tv played softly in the background. Gentle white noise she was so accustomed to. The breeze. The traffic that quietly continued below in its never ending monotony.

Viktor gave a content chirp as he reclaimed his prized spot on the top of the couch above Evan and watched her for a moment, folding into a small loaf of hairless feline. 

“I’ve made such a mess, huh bud?” She reached for her phone knowing nothing was going to pop up on the screen as she hit the home button- to her discovery, it was just as she calculated and she set her phone down almost defeatedly. 

“Good night, V.” She pushed her glasses off her face and let a hand come up to massage his chin, a happy lick trailing off her fingers as she stared at the ceiling before sleep finally called to claim her hours later. It was an exciting night. But nothing would prepare her for what would eventually come.

  
  



	2. Constants and Variables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our compatriots begin to learn more about one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a disclaimer, the soul purpose of this fanfiction was to get my thoughts for my own ship on something like paper- I don't own Loki or Marvel, and I really just enjoy working on what sort of possibilities these two might go through. I'm not an expert, I'm in no way a real writer or hardly know what I'm doing. If you enjoy this, I greatly appreciate it, and send you all my love! (sorry for any typos!)

Over the course of forty-eight hours, Evan didn’t see much of her new companion. She heard him stir in his room momentarily to possibly drink or eat from the plate she had left for him the morning following his arrival but was back to sleep soon after.  
She checked on him often, replacing his water and food (composed of just bread snacks or cookies) every eight hours or so and tried to be as quiet as possible when she went into the study to break down what information she collected the night of the incident. Viktor has taken to occasionally sleeping with the visitor, his idea of personal space nonexistent as this was just random nature of cats and she found it quite endearing he had warmed up to him so easily.  
It wasn’t until the afternoon of the third day (she explained to Stark she hadn’t been feeling well and would work from home for a few days) that she physically saw Loki awake again- who had vigorously rubbed his eyes as he walked through the hallway to find her, in seemingly much better shape than how he had originally appeared to her.  
“Feeling any better?” She smiled kindly from her table, laptop open surrounded by a stack of papers which appeared carelessly strewn about her makeshift work area.  
He nodded and smiled, taking the seat across from her and tried to stifle a yawn.  
“If I ever need a sleep like that, you’re the first person I’ll contact.” He seemed to be in a pleasant mood.  
“ I AM really sorry about all of this…” before she offered her fullest apology the man waved it off and smirked.  
“The bed was surprisingly comfortable, I’m not going to complain.” And this eased her considerably.  
“Unfortunately I’m not an ideal cook- if you’re hungry I could always order something or go and grab something from down the street.” And the man nodded.  
“I can’t say that I’m too incredibly famished at the moment but…” he eyed over the papers and she quickly went to defend herself.  
“Oh! My goodness I’m sorry… you probably don’t think I’m much of a housekeeper either!” There was a pace about her as she tried to neaten the area and he chuckled before grabbing a set of stapled papers and read them aloud.  
“Spatial conversion in Vanishing dynamics- how four dimensions co-exist in one…” he trailed off as his eyebrows drew up in contemplation as he read on and Evan covered her mouth.  
“Does it sound like I know what I’m talking about?” There was a concern on her face as Loki handed the papers back to her and the smile on his face seemed to ease her tension.  
“You’re the scientist.” The courage that his voice seemed to give her made her sit back in her chair and smile.  
“Doesn’t that theory only revolve around two?” His question excited her and she nodded happily.  
“That’s only for the two that’s speculated but of course I like a challenge-“ she held up her hands so they were parallel with another and brought them quickly together in a clap! “- but what happens if theres a reaction for every collision that happens in these lateral fields? The magnetic force? The outside hosts? It’s all very theoretical but I also like to think it’s plausible.”  
“And you don’t think they’d cancel each other out by other unnecessary gravitational variables?” Evan sat back and gave a short laugh almost unbelievingly.  
“Do they teach you this in Asgard?” And Loki laughed as he got up.  
“It was mentioned in your paper.” And Evans grin grew wide.  
“I’ve had a lot of time to sit and think, I guess.”  
Grabbing an empty glass, the man turned on the tap and pointed to the open balcony door.  
“You should see the night on Asgard. Or really any other planet. Your mind would probably swell with theories.”  
As Evan looked back to him she couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by the statement outside of their conversation and she shrugged.  
“We’re not that versed in space travel, so I highly doubt that would be in my lifetime.”  
Loki took a long drink of water before considering his next words, setting the glass down and heading into the open living area to survey the documents and photos she had on the walls.  
“Wouldn’t you be the one to lead them there?” He pointed to her degrees and a sincere smile lit her face.  
“Maybe not Asgard…” she got up and closed her laptop before joining him by the shelf that held all of her personal information.  
She could see the man ponder for a moment before opening his mouth to speak and what he had questioned made her contemplate how much she was willing to explain.  
“I assume this is your mother and father? Are you close?”  
“They are. My…” she paused before her initial burst but collected her thoughts and nodded.  
“My mother, Barbara-“ she pointed to her as he picked up the frame the older image was housed in. “- she died when I was really young… so I don’t know much about her other than how my dad talks about her. But my father and I are very close. He raised me, schooled me… I owe a lot to him.”  
Loki gently set the frame down before trying to offer apology and Evan shook her head.  
“Once I told my father I wanted to get into astrophysics he really just… encouraged me so much. He’s kind of the only friend I have.” And Loki swallowed hard at hearing this.  
“Do you have a good relationship with your family?” There was a shift in the Norse Gods demeanor as he shook his head but he knew he couldn’t take his resentment out on her.  
“Unfortunately no. I’m… adopted. So the only person I could ever really trust was my mother, Frigga.”  
In saying her name made the realization set in on how much he truly missed her and he sighed.  
“She’s a lot like your father though- taught me everything she knew and was kind to me, and I’m thankful to her in that regard.”  
“I’m sorry.” Loki shook his head and smiled.  
“It’s really nothing. I asked.” He forced a laugh and she apologized again.  
“She sounds pretty nice though, to have raised someone like you who’s polite and considerate.” The man laughed honestly this time and he nodded.  
“She is. She’d love you, I think.” He pointed to the picture of her with Tony Stark and Stephen Hawking and tilted his head questioningly.  
“Brothers?”  
“Oh no! That’s my employer,” she pointed to Stark, “And that’s Dr. Stephen Hawking, he’s kind of a big inspiration of mine. It was like meeting my hero, so to speak! He’s a physicist.”   
“You look very happy.” And Evan nodded.  
“Stark knows a lot of people, he’s kind of like a celebrity. He had invited me to one of these science galas and WHEW it was crazy.”   
“How crazy does science get?” There was a profound look of amusement and confusion on his face and Evan giggled.  
“SO crazy!” Was her sarcastic reply.

———————

As the day went on and dinner finally found, the two seemed to open up more to one another. Their friendship blossoming naturally, the event of a teleporter almost like a second nature thing in the realm of earth and Evan felt extreme comfort. They talked for hours, Loki going into detail about the skills and magic he learned growing up which absolutely astonished Evan and she was so taken by his ability, she felt a bit of jealousy. Science was one thing but magic? No explanation on how to control it or how it affects the area around it and captivated her.  
It made her feel more at peace when Loki had told her that he had heard of Midgardians being able to use magic in their own way and maybe she just hadn’t discovered her innate abilities yet.  
And he spoke of his brother and the disdain for his father and how things for him in Asgard would never be as he pictured. He felt abandoned and unwanted and as he spoke, the pain from the reality showed. But this was a topic he didn’t dwell on around her for too long and changed the subject quickly to deter his own anger. He described Asgard to her in great detail though, the overall feel and aesthetic and it made her almost inspired to keep working on her project- how every night there was always a feast and how the people dressed and how they used science and magic as a coincided means for electricity and power and the source stemmed from an underground well of concentrated cosmic energy.   
She knew there had to have been more than what the reaches of human technology could adapt to and knowing this gave her the feeling of having the upper hand on science. But how do you outwardly tell someone that you accidentally zapped an alien into your apartment when the idea of outside life forms scared the common populace senseless? Another variable she had already calculated but didn't take into extreme considerability. When the end of the night approached, Evan had shown Loki the guest bathroom and how to properly work everything before retiring back to the couch. Viktor has already fallen fast asleep and before her mind could even begin to comb over everything they had discussed, she was out.  
And so their time together went on much like this, early mornings, late nights and when Evan returned to work, she always felt a relief of Loki being there as soon as she got home and it became a comfortable situation just as she had anticipated.  
Over the course of a month though, she could see him become more and more restless, trying to figure out his next step or where he might go, but they openly talked about it and he had told her that he wasn’t in much of a hurry to get anywhere. He didn’t want to be seen in the public, despite showing off his shapeshifting skills and knowing its advantages but he explained to her that he knew the possibility of eyes everywhere in the galaxy and this was once place he had felt safe and chancing it and possibly putting her in danger was absolutely out of the question.  
She couldn’t help but feel that he was the first person who meant saying something like that outside of her family and the feeling made her almost sick thinking about what that could have entailed. Danger? A Norse God in danger? From what? Or who? Of course if there were good guys there must have also been bad guys and she struggled with this thought a few days after he had mentioned it. She knew Stark had thwarted a small deal of his own opponents, but when she sat and thought, they were almost like children upset that he wasn’t sharing his toys and this concerned her even more. But she didn’t ask him about it. She felt that maybe bringing it back up might have been a bad move as a friend and she tried to let go of the feeling that HIS life might have actually been in more danger than what he had let on.   
How would she honestly feel about him after he left and his safety now that this seed had been planted and if she’d eventually become a target to someone else? Could she have discussed this matter or worded this to Stark without giving her guests identity away or would she have to remain closed lipped as she had planned about the whole situation? The more she tried to separate herself from the position she felt she had just placed herself in, the quiet panic of this reality set in.


	3. The Bedroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan opens up a little more.
> 
> (Brief mention of abuse)

The scientist was unsure of how long she had been asleep before being woken up to the sudden clap of thunder and Viktor crying at the door to the Balcony, still open. A fine mist had enveloped the city and the still half lit buildings in the dark were an indication it had been much later than she anticipated. She could see the shadow of Loki illuminated by lightning as it flashed and filled the room and her lights in the kitchen flickered before Viktor meowed again.  
She rubbed her eyes for a moment before reaching for her glasses but found her phone and checked the time- 3:38 a.m. with no other notifications.   
When she managed her glasses she sat up and she could hear the man turn to her.  
“How long has that been going on?” She yawned and stretched, Loki moving from the balcony doorway and to the small shay beside the tv.  
“About an hour or so.” He didn’t sound as tired as she felt and this gave her pause.  
“Viktor gets so antsy with storms. He usually enjoys watching them from my room because there’s no door always open, but ever since I started working on the teleporter I’ve been sleeping down here.”  
“Not in the guest room?” There was amusement in his voice and she stifled a yawn.  
“I think better out here, I guess. That or the sound of the city just helps me sleep easier when I can’t shut my brain off.”  
“You’re not afraid he might fall out?” The cat hopped up into Loki’s lap and he gave a soft mew as the God gently rubbed at his chin. It was odd behavior she felt, for him, but she couldn’t recall ever actually introducing him to anyone else other than her father.  
“He’s a pretty smart boy, I’ve always trusted his curiosity.” He looked back to the balcony, and as nice as it was to hear the rain, the view was obscured by the balcony of her neighbor and as they sat in silence, Evan broke the tension with an awkward suggestion.  
“The view is actually better upstairs if you wanna see. I don’t think I’ve actually taken you up there yet.” At hearing this, Viktor bounded from the man’s lap and hastily made his way halfway up the stairs and called back to them, the twittering of his paws up and down made his eagerness all the more obvious.  
“He thinks it’s a good idea.” There was a soft chuckle as he stood and Evan struggled to find the strength in her lower body to get up as she tried to hide a yawn.  
“God, I hope it’s clean, I haven’t been up there in a while.” Loki wasn’t sure if this was a joke as he watched her force herself from the couch but it was amusing to consider what she might have actually thought dirty may have been.  
Mostly everything had its place in her home- dishes always clean, clothes always washed and even if there had been a messy table, he found it all to be quite immaculate in comparison to what he knew.  
Following Viktor, the pair walked together upstairs as Evan explained.  
“It probably seems like a lot of space for a girl and her cat, but my dad stayed with me for the first year of school when I came up here. I wasn’t allowed to live off campus if I wasn’t living here with family, and my dad was really nervous in letting me be here by myself. So the first room is his, and I haven’t touched it since he left. He visits occasionally though so versus him getting a hotel it’s just easier for him to stay with me.” When they made it to the top of the stairway, she opened the door to his room which was furnished with a king bed and a bookshelf, it’s own bathroom and what Loki assumed a walk in closet. The lightning gave way to the dark blue the walls had been painted and the somewhat oceanic decor was almost relaxing as he took in its aesthetic.  
“He lives on the beach, and not a damn room in his house shows it so when we decorated I bought some really cheesy stuff to remind him of home.” She joked and the man smiled.  
“Does he have a big house?” And Evan nodded.  
“He’s the owner of a steel company in Savannah, and just recently branched out into repairing and modifying the ships that come into the port there. He bought the house with my mom maybe thirty something years ago but has built off of it and remodeled most of it at this point.”  
“He likes to stay busy, I take it.” And she nodded again as she closed the door.  
“It keeps his mind off of worrying about me.” She shook her head and laughed before closing the distance to her room.  
“You’re the only child, right? Of course he’s worried.” Not like a Dallas needed the back up, but Evan could understand where Loki was coming from.  
“Ok, well I hope there isn’t a monster or wierd mold that decided to take root in here so please be forewarned.” Viktor meowed impatiently before she opened the door and quickly rushed onto her bed as thunder sounded around them.  
With a gentle tap, she turned on the soft amber lights which gave way to a modest yet very simplistic room, the curtain opened to the clouded skyline of the city which instantly enveloped the man in a sense of wonder and beauty.  
There was another king sized bed, soft pink comforter crumpled half messily to the one side with a coral pink throw almost falling over the edge. A night stand with a rose gold lamp turned off housed a few books, a pen and a half open drawer that was seemingly crammed with papers full of handwritten notes.  
They walked into the room and Evan quickly went to attend the drawer, pulling out the papers and shoved them into one of the books and threw them under the bed, making quick to fix the small mess as the man peered into the dark bathroom. He was surprised at what little mess there was in here, a can of hairspray and face wash tucked off to the corner of a large, full sized mirror. His hand went to search for the light before being cascaded from the track light above and he took in the blue and gold detailing of the bathroom tile. There was a glass shower and a full bathtub, which looked back out into the city and he pointed.  
“Can people…. uh, see into this room?” And he heard Evan laugh from her position.  
“Oh no, it’s mirrored on the other side, so I can see out but no one could see in. It’s definitely one of the perks to this place.”  
“Especially with the view.” And he shut off the light before returning next to her as she looked out from her larger bedroom window.  
“I honestly don’t spend enough time in here. It’s my favorite room of the whole apartment and I’ve been sleeping downstairs for almost an entire year.”  
“And why’s that?” His question was honest and as much as she wanted to blame the teleporter, she knew the answer was much more than just work related.  
“Probably a combination of things.” Lightning filled the room again, followed by instantaneous thunder and Viktor chirped happily.  
Loki eyed her curiously for a moment, expecting an explanation to follow but there was a shift in her body language and she sighed.  
“I don’t know how to explain it I guess.” She defeatedly shook her head.  
“Do you want to?”  
Evan wanted to shame herself for being overcome with a complexity of emotions at his question and she shrugged.  
“I don’t know if you’d believe me. Or if you’d see me differently if I tried.” Another brilliant flash and a deeper thunder.  
There was hurt in her face and Loki couldn’t help but feel like this was something she hadn’t told anyone and to keep it from him almost hurt him in the fact that he thought she trusted him.  
“I just… don’t want to seem weak to you. I’m already just some scientist and I…” she paused as the thunder rolled deeper and she composed herself slightly.  
“You’re my only friend. I don’t want to burden you with some inane bullshit that doesn’t even matter anymore.” Loki grabbed her arm softly before offering his reply.  
“But isn’t it the job of a friend to help another when they can see the other is clearly hurting?” And Evan almost fell apart.  
“It’s just not fair to you. I didn’t bring you here on accident to listen to my problems.”  
“I’ve already expressed mine. I was under the impression that was one of the first things I did when we met.” She gave an apprehensive smile.  
“If you want to try, I’m willing to listen.” Evan wiped away a tear at hearing this.  
“Are you really sure?” Loki softly laughed as he took his sleeve and wiped her other eye.  
“Emotional baggage is a hell of a thing if you don’t have someone to talk through it with. I would venture so far to say you haven’t even spoken to your father about it?” Evan shook her head.  
“He’d kill someone, honestly. I’ve been too afraid to ever bring it up to him.”  
“Was it something that happened?” Evan shook her head again but then nodded and then shrugged. By this time, the rain had started to come down harder and the noise was almost welcome in the painful small silences between them.  
“After my dad left, I met this guy.” Loki immediately felt himself tense up but tried to shove off the feeling of jealousy that overcame him.  
“I don’t even know what I was thinking- he wasn’t my type by any stretch of the imagination and he was just….” she buried her face for a moment before Viktor mewed gently and she looked back up out the window.  
“He was so cruel to me. He belittled me and abused me and… I don’t know if it was desperation or the feeling of not wanting to be alone but he was not the person I needed to fill that void and I know that now. But it was just… not easy being with him.”  
“I assume you aren’t together now?” Evan nodded slowly.  
“After the second beating, I just…. couldn’t deal with it anymore. I was able to get a restraining order but that didn’t really help. He stalked me. He pushed me. He stalked me at my old job, it was a nightmare.”  
“That must have been really difficult.” The gentility in his voice almost took her by surprise as he shifted the hair from her face.  
“I didn’t think it could get worse until he showed up here one night and busted the latch lock. I was terrified.” There was an uneasy pause as she wiped her face again before looking back to Loki and the sight of her almost broke his heart.  
“He was drunk. Everything he did was just absolute hell. He beat me, he yelled at me. And I never felt more alone in that moment. I felt like I must have done something to deserve all of this and this was just the grand scheme of the universe to take its frustrations or failures out on me.”  
“You didn’t deserve that,” Loki said hastily reassuringly grabbing at her arm again and he let her cry for a moment.  
“All I wanted was someone to take care of me like my father did before he left. And then there was Derrick and it just…. “ Her face fell back into her hands as Loki wrapped an arm around her.  
“The world sees the kindness of a woman and tests her in so many ways that even the strongest and brightest can’t make heads or tails of. You didn’t deserve that. There’s no subjugation to have endured be made to feel as if it was your fault. You aren’t his property and you aren’t obligated to him in any sense.” He held her there for some time before the rain hardened and the thunder continued.  
Out of anything he expected, this wasn’t it and it made his blood almost boil as he thought back to the comment about her father. He wouldn’t have blamed him either, as much as he wanted to do the same, it wouldn’t fix how Evan felt about what had transpired and it ate at him to know there wasn’t a way to make things easier for her.  
“It’s hard for me to be in this room by myself. To have this in front of me and honestly enjoy it. I’m not saying that I need someone in my bed, I just…. need someone. And I think it gets to me more here than anywhere else in my home.” The pang of guilt that washed over Loki was indescribable. She knew he’d eventually leave. And they even talked about it. But maybe she had expected him to visit? Not like that wasn’t a possibility but it made him feel momentarily helpless about eventually leaving her by herself again.  
“But I know I can’t force a friendship. I can’t force people to stay here with me or be my companion, that’s not fair to them. But when you’re alone for so long, how much silence can you take before every thought you have makes you second guess yourself.”  
“Do you regret the decision to come to New York?” There was a small pause before Evan shook her head.  
“Of course not.” She started softly. “I’m happy now. I have a cat and a job I can work myself up in and esteemed colleagues.”   
“But no one you’d consider friend?”  
Evan shrugged.  
“I consider you a friend but…” she swallowed hard before choosing her next words.  
“You’re not my prisoner. I’m not going to keep you here. Am I afraid to lose you? Of course I am. But I’ll reflect fondly on what we have because you’re the first person to actually give a damn about me.” Loki felt touched at her confession and she leaned back onto him and he held her tightly again.  
“I think you might be too.” He admitted and she looked up to him questioningly.  
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to find where I truly belonged and have struggled with a sense of direction and purpose. I still may not know these things but you’ve given a reason to keep searching, and in the best way.”  
The rest of their time in her room was quiet for the exception of the storm that continued on into the morning, and somewhere between their conversation and the last few drops of rain, Evan had fallen asleep on him and he gently tucked her in before retiring back down stairs.  
He knew what she had confessed was brave, and she probably felt all the better for it but with this feeling there was also the guilt of knowing they’d eventually have to say their goodbyes.  
He knew their time here was coming to a close and to have to see her heartbroken again by someone none other than him made it all the more depressing.  
But he knew who was looking for him. He knew if he didn’t deliver on his promise soon, he’d be in even more trouble than what was promised and the thought of Evan being thrown in the middle terrified him more. He wouldn’t let that happen. 


	4. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stark has a discussion with Evan, while Loki is confronted by something even more terrifying.

“So what is it EXACTLY that you wanted to talk about?” Tony Stark had been sitting back lazily in his chair as a transparent screen seemed to keep his undivided attention, flicking a pen back and forth so fervently that the top ended up flying off and bouncing off of Pepper, who shot him a raised brow.  
“A Trans-Dimensional Matter what now?” He tilted his head as he glared up her, eyes only half hidden by the blue toned glasses that claimed to protect your eyes against the constant harshness of a computer screen.

“It’s just a fancy name for a Teleporter.” She admitted and he shrugged.   
“But you got it to work, is what you’re telling me?”  
“Well, no.” She hoped Stark didn’t have special powers and could see behind her lie.  
“There wasn’t a susceptible source of raw energy so it literally just emitted smoke and beeped for about twenty minutes.”  
“Do you think it could work if you had the right supply?” Pepper asked and Stark cut in immediately.  
“If I read the resource paper right, there’s no doubt it SHOULD be able to work but my question becomes this, little miss thing….” Evan took in a deep breath before she realized he was either going to scold her or criticize her for not asking him about it.  
“Why didn’t you ask for my help? I would have loved to have been able to take all the credit for it.” Both girls rolled their eyes.  
“I did. But not so honestly. And technically you did because half of the parts were composed of Stark components, which I’ve justly returned.”  
“Returned? What… You mean you broke it down?” He snatched the glasses from his face and eyed her harder.  
“I can’t be responsible for something like that. At least not right now.” The admittance in her voice was questionable to Stark and he sat up from his desk.  
“It didn’t seem to affect your productivity even on the days you took off at the beginning of last month. If anything, I’d say you became more encouraged to see something more physical and working.”  
“It was refreshing to see, yes…” she looked to Pepper and back to Stark.  
“I just don’t think I’m ready to unveil a truth I’m not even 100% on. “  
“A scientist not ready to face the truth that there could be something outside of her solar system waiting to just put her name on the map of people who built it up to this point.”  
Before Pepper could retort to his almost disappointing tone, he threw up a hand to her and then swiveled it in front of Evan.  
“You can’t handle the truth. It’s terrifying, isn’t it? That the world isn’t exactly as you hoped and there could be this vast reach of space you can escape to.”  
“You’re right Mister Stark. I can’t. Not until I’m ready on my own terms.” She knew he was right and the smile that played over his face was almost reassuring that he wasn’t trying to bully her. It was more so a push of encouragement to make sure she was still just as motivated and he could see that in the way she applied herself to her papers.  
“When you get ready, we’ll break it down together.”  
The commute home from work, short though taxing, gave her too much time to think. All she wanted to do was sleep until she had to go back in at six in the morning. Maybe she’d show up early. Maybe she shouldn’t have left. Her head hurt. Her heart hurt.   
Stupid traffic. Stupid song on the radio. Stupid weird engine light.  
There was a quiet pause between Evan sticking her key into deadbolt and turning to unlock it. She could already hear Viktor traipsing down the stairs and meowed excitedly when she entered into the foyer, throwing her purse and coat onto the waiting chair as she made her way into the kitchen to feed him. She tried to avoid looking at the table, the hope of his return now effortless as she had come to the conclusion that three weeks after, Loki wasn’t going to come back. She had cleared everything but the letter from the table, unable to read it fully through teary eyes at every attempt and she had half hoped if she took it to her father, maybe he could have managed to read it to her. But then she’d have to explain what the hell it meant and her eyes filled with despondency as she filled Viktors water bowl.  
She knew he was gone. And instead of giving her the gratification of a goodbye, he simply vanished. This was a completely different pain. Different than losing her mom, different than Derrick. She lost her friend and for some reason she felt responsible. All she could remember was holding the note in disbelief at the empty table in the dark of her apartment wondering if she had done something wrong.  
After fixing his food, Evan poured a glass of water before bringing it upstairs. She wasn’t going to try and reread the letter. Not right now. Not when every part of her longed for a moment of peace in sleep.  
She didn’t bother to change as she flopped onto the bed after setting down her water, the soft rumble of thunder calling to her attention as she took in the dusk view of the city. She felt so different. Sad and dissociated which was far from her normal personality. She hoped she’d get over this feeling. She hated what it did to her and her rational way of thinking.  
Before too long, she fell asleep, the thunder almost calm and rain gentle as it went on through the night.   
—————  
In the far reaches of the cosmos, sat a man. A man by any means more than just the word. A giant. An Eternal. A Deviant.   
He watched beyond, boringly unamused as his servant went about his Masters’ request with impish giddiness.  
“So you’ll yield to his command?” He was simply known as The Other, a Chitauri General, leader of a great alien army.  
“To do so will put them at your disposal when the time comes.”  
“I’ve had my fill of Midgard and its complexity of sentiment. As long as the girl goes unharmed, I’ll do my part.”  
Wreathed in the glory of his Asgardian armor stood Loki, the God of Mischief. His profile illuminated in the profiles of the stars and galaxy that drifted between the three and Thanos groaned.  
“Yet sentiment gives to boundary.”  
These were the only words that billowed from him and The Other nodded.  
“The Tesseract will be retrieved at any cost. If she gets in the way, you will do as commanded.”  
The sneer that passed over the Gods thin pressed lips gave The Other a moment to reconsider his words and quickly.  
“But there will be no destruction to her on our behalf…” and Thanos nodded in compliance with the General’s words.  
“...You know your place, Asgardian. When the time of calling comes, you MUST answer.” With a flick of his six fingered hand, the Chitauri produced a great golden Scepter.   
“A gift from the Master. The Chitauri army is yours to do as you please.”   
With care, The Other handed off the staff to the God, who was overcome with its beauty and power. He could feel the energy pulse through him and his eyes darkened with malice.  
“Say the word, and I’ll begin.”   
The Other bowed as he closed the distance between himself and the Mad Titan who looked back to the God and grinned.  
“You’ll know when it’s time to execute. Do not disappoint me.”


	5. The Avengers Initiative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanos gains his pawn as the pieces move against each other.
> 
> (Violence and manipulation)

It’s been nearly three months since the gift of the Scepter, Loki finding the perfect ways to make it work in his advantage and once the plan got set into motion his lust for power became an obsession with the Scepter in hand.  
He’s not even sure what thoughts are his anymore, his mind is always racing, always looking for its next fix of power and when he finally confronts his brother, the end of the beginning starts to take hold.   
Once the man known as Coulson was dealt with, he makes the decision to head for Stark’s tower as the Avengers are left scrambling to pick up the pieces and Thor is set off on a journey to catch up.  
He’s set Selvig to do the dirty work of setting everything up to bring in the Chitauri, the short time estimate given seeming a life time as he parades into the top story of the tower, met only with a familiar face that almost snaps him back into reality.

She’s as beautiful as he remembered, hair longer and flowing behind her as she walks toward him from the elevator, eyes fixated on his as soon as they recognize each other.  
She looked angry, which was an uncommon emotion to him from her and he’s almost taken aback by how much stronger her body language and aura feel. Was she the same woman he had met so many months ago? Was he so different to her now? He gripped the scepter almost threateningly, helmless face sneering back to her in dominance.  
He’s raining down chaos according to someone else’s agenda, and lives are in danger. But she doesn’t want to give up and she doesn’t want to give him what he wants. When Stark calls to confirm this is indeed the platform he’s tried to acquire for this spectacle of becoming Earths’ king, she’s gone to taking matters into her own hands until Stark and team make landfall.   
He knows she’s here on business- her normally shining face is grim with worry and contemplation as she approaches him. 

“I suspect this meeting will not be as timid as it was the last we met... nonetheless, it’s good to see you.”

“I suspect...” Evan starts but calms her eager tone in clenching her fist and lets out a very ragged breath.

“I suspect that this meeting doesn’t have to be as YOU suspect... Loki.... what are you doing?” There was almost a plea as Loki props himself against one of the pillars that decorate the pent house cheaply and scoffs.

“What I was BORN to do... to rule... to be a King....I’ve finally been given that chance...”  
“A King? Was that the idea all along? To find your foothold in New York to be king? You’re not that man. Not the man I met those months ago... not the man I nursed back to health or the man I told my nightmares to... not the man I knew wasn’t a monster .... not the man I thought was my FRIEND.”  
Loki stiffens off the wall and places the scepter in front of him, closing the distance between them in a beat.  
There’s a silence as he towers above her, taking her jaw in his hand and his lips tighten. The moment between them is lightning and Evan feels her chest knot uncomfortably, replaying every word they ever spoke to each other pounding in her ears. His grip is unusually soft and she sees his face relax as he surveys for the first time how beautiful she really is. He’s reminded of her kindness, their secrets, and how infallible she really was to him. He tortured himself with the ideas of what could have come if this hadn’t been the path he decided and he clenches his jaw.  
“I don’t want to hurt you...” His eyes betray him as he begs, tears filling them as the brilliance of the tesseract reflects the pact he can’t go back on.  
Evan’s stance is determined as she keeps her eyes locked in his and without a second thought she replies-  
“Then don’t.”

He lets her go and turns his back to her and Stark breaks in on her com- he’s closing in.

“You’re the one person.... I will not subject to this.” his eyes fall heavy on the Scepter, knowing she could easily be a valuable part of his army.  
“You weren’t meant to be a part of this equation. They promised me you wouldn’t get hurt.” His arm stretches out as the bottom of the staff fiercely meets the floor.  
There was a terrible realization to her face as he spoke, knowing that he had only meant to set out what Stark had said he might do.  
“So I became the pawn in your game then?”  
“Don’t you dare compare me to my father!” He shouted, turning back to her, grabbing her face again with more force.  
“Don’t be like everyone else, Do not DARE to compare me to something I’m not!” With this, Evan pushed him off of her and pointed back to him.  
“Then stop acting like it! You’re not a child. You’re acting like you’re owed something we can’t give you!”  
“Your mistake was in coming here. Your sentiment means nothing to me now.” His words hit her like hot venom and she could feel the anger build in her as tears filled her emerald eyes.  
“Leave while you have the chance. I came here for Stark, not a third rate wanna be lonely astrophysicist.” He turned from her, his sarcasm leading her to believe he was no longer the man she thought she knew.

“I don’t know who you really are, but I can only hope this isn’t it, because I’m not impressed if you really manage your goal, your majesty.” She feigned a bow as she made her way back to the elevator, the both of them turning back once more before saying their silent goodbye.

  
“I’m so sorry.”

  
———————————

  
After the firefall, the meeting of the Avengers and their thanks to the help she assisted in, Evan had decided to see them off. Evan could see the dissatisfaction in the Mischief gods face and she felt sorry for him. His demeanor and features almost changed significantly as they removed the scepter from him, exasperated brow furrowed at the sight of being trotted around like a bad festival prize.  
Once or twice, they’d glance at each other, Evan’s arms crossed and face unassuming as she offered questions to his fate to come.  
“So is he just gonna rot in a cell until you guys figure out how to fix his behavior? Or is that for Odin and Frigga to decide?”   
Thor had a soft laugh as he pointed to her and shook his head.  
“I would assume the latter, but who knows.” He shrugged, looking back to his compatriots.  
“I only hope he learns from his mistakes. The cosmos is vast and maybe redemption is in their somewhere for him.” And Stark shook his head to her words.  
“Look, I know Fury isn’t going to be pleased he’s leaving Earth with no justifiable trial for what we have to clean up.”  
“It’ll get done, I’ve already started arrangements, Mr. Stark.” She reassured, and the team nodded back to her. There was so much thanks to them for what would inevitably change the course of the world as they all knew it. Alien attacks? A superhuman team looking out for their well being? An initiative of heroes, scientists, supercomputer telemetry at the beck and call for what would put them on the map for another future offensive? Evan liked the sound of it, but how much of it could she really help with?

When they made it back to the tower after shawarma, Stark stared at her as she continued to work on what was manageable at the tower.  
She had gone from theories to fixing Stark's suits, and the repairs she was going to have to evaluate and manage became a longer and longer list as they waited for Pepper’s return.  
“So what do you think?” He finally said, eyes heavy as he watched her questionably.  
“I think that won’t be the first of attempts. Maybe not by angry Norse god brat children but…. we’ll have our work cut out for us. Jarvis, run a secondary diagnostic on the triple A thorium capacitor, please.”  
{Yes ma’am…}  
“I meant about the Ass-gardian.” He joked and she shook her head.  
“There was more at play here than his wonton desire to be king. I just…. don’t know yet. What if his Scepter was kinda like the Tesseract?” She said this so casually Stark raised a brow.  
“How so? They had different energy levels.”  
“But did you run it along what information that the Tesseract yielded or was it of its own caliber?”  
{Would you like me to run those diagnostics as well, doctor?}  
“No, Jarvis, not at the moment.”  
“Why does that matter, we assume the staff was his. Prison Break has that hammer….thing” Stark made a swinging motion above his head.  
“Have you ever read anything about Norse mythology?” She stopped working for a moment to look back at Stark who shook his head.  
“Why, am I missing something?”  
“Loki doesn’t have a staff, Odin does.”  
“Aaaaaaannnnd that means what to me….exactly?”  
“All I’m saying is that I don’t think that staff belonged to Loki. It had a much bigger power force than what Thor controls with his hammer or what Loki was even capable of. Did you read Thor’s file?”  
And Stark shook his head again, which made Evan sigh.  
“I asked him about New Mexico. He told me that he and Loki fought and when he and Odin confronted him in Asgard, he fell into cosmic abyss, without a staff, without any semblance of where he might have drifted to. Someone must have given it to him.”  
“Like… another alien?”   
“You told me to keep my mind open, right?” She went back to fixing the arm piece as Jarvis gave her the diagnostics read out, along with the comparison file of the Tesseract and Scepter.  
“What makes you think that though?” And Evan paused as she thought back to the moment of them together on her bed looking out into the rain drenched city.  
“Intuition… maybe. Doesn’t Pepper ever tell you about hers?”  
“I tune it out.” And Evan threw her screwdriver at him.  
“I’m KIDDING, Jesus.” He stood up to retrieve it as she quickly scanned the Tesseract file and focused on the energy findings.  
“I think we need to take another look at that Scepter if we get the chance. There isn’t enough evidence to propose that I'm on the right track and I need as much information as I can get.”  
Handing over the instrument, Stark shook his head again.  
“We probably don’t have that clearance now, Fury took the Scepter and I’m sure Rogers is the only one he told how to get to it.”  
Evan gave a defeated sigh.  
“Great. Well, so much for that theory.”  
“I’ll talk to Rogers soon, maybe I can get you that access. But for now, let’s restore the Mark VII and get it back to feasible condition. I know we still have the other prototypes to test but I need a break.” Rubbing his face, he walked back to the bar and held up a glass.  
“Just one. Join me?”  
Evan contemplated his offer for a moment, but shrugged as she sat up and stretched.  
“What the hell, we literally just saved New York.”


	6. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another conversation with Stark, and possibly something with feelings?

Evan had found herself at a standstill as work continued on, months pressing into a year before she was elbow deep again into a new suit for Tony after the events with the Mandarin.  
The convergence had happened- something she hadn’t taken into consideration and it wasn’t too long before she found herself face to face with Loki’s brother, the self proclaimed strongest Avenger, Thor.  
He had brought both her and Tony what she would have considered grave news, the announcement of Loki’s death on Svartalfheim- if she hadn’t known the actual truth.  
Thor has gone into recounting in how brave he had been to protect both him and Jane Foster, also an astrophysicist, and Tony got sucked up into his story enough to stop working as Evan pushed aside her papers to feign ignorance as he trailed on.  
——————  
She recanted seeing a glimmer from across the room of a symposium she had been invited to, Tony quick to dip into the presenters time after the talk, completely forgetting about her as she made her way to the open outside, past a balcony door.  
The night air was cool as she gathered her thoughts, looking to the stars before she heard the ruffling of another behind her, and she heard the doors close gently before a cool yet familiar voice came to stand beside her.  
“Excommunicating yourself is only going to draw out the wolves.”  
“You’d know about wolves, wouldn’t you, Loki?” She didn’t bother to turn to face him, whether it be from a mixture of fear and surprise or the off chance it wasn’t actually him.  
“Looking for your next victim…” the words escaped her without a secondary thought and she heard him scoff next to her.  
“I actually came to apologize,” he started and when she turned to face him he was hit with the very reason he knew this had been a good idea.  
She was beautifully framed in a black dress with a sheer over gown that glittered with golden inlaid flowers, hair drawn up and held together with a gold filigree accented clip. Her emotions were raw as star laden eyes filled with silent tears and she bit her lip to cover the embarrassment of how easily he was able to expose her heart and it tore at every sensible part of him.  
“I didn’t mean it… I didn’t even know what I had said until it was all over…”  
“It’s been two years… “  
“And here I am… ready to make things right by you.”  
“How did you escape?” Her lip quivered as she looked away from him for a moment, the chilled air knocking her back into her senses as his brow raised in question.  
“I’m not proud of this but it was to help my brother. I managed to…. shroud myself enough to make it off of Svartalfheim unnoticed and return to take my place on Asgard as a reputable being.”  
“You faked your death.” She said bluntly and he tripped over the last of his words.  
“He told you?”  
“Told me? Oh no, I could figure out that if you played your redemption arc well enough, you’d do that to keep them off your tail long enough to figure out what to do next without going back to jail.”  
“First of all, it wasn’t jail…” he laughed and she brought up a hand.  
“Fine then, house arrest?”  
“Alright it was Jail.” And he saw her give a disapproving look off annoyance.  
“So what? Do you expect to tell me I was right about the Scepter being given to you and you were being brainwashed and that would somehow make me feel slightly better about trying to reestablish a working friendship with you?” As she spoke, Loki’s brow arched in mischievous question and he nodded.  
“Is that a possibility? Because it’s true.”  
“Wait...what?” She saw him draw in a deep breath before releasing the weight of his shoulders and moved to place his palms against the stonework of the balcony ledge.  
“I shouldn’t lie to you. I promised I’d never hurt you and did exactly what I swore to my heart I wouldn’t. I didn’t expect things to go as far as they did and that Scepter….” His eyes grew heavy at the thought before turning from her and it wasn’t too long before she was right at his side, placing her hand over his.  
“Whoever gave you the Scepter is dangerous. They can’t be trusted and it’s only a matter of time before they may try and retrieve it and the Tesseract. These items have some sort of mystical properties we can’t uncover right now and-“ Loki’s fingers came to her lips and in her surprise she quieted instantly.  
“They’re the Infinity Stones. Thanos aims to collect them all for his twisted idea of a better world. They promised me you wouldn’t get hurt….” his fingers fell to take her chin in his hand and his eyes passively fell over her features accented in the moonlight, thumb coming to caress her lips as he spoke.  
“But he lied,” He said quietly. “And used me to be the one to deal the blow.”  
Evan’s face didn’t withdraw from his touch as her eyes focused on him as he spoke, and she could see a glimmer again of the man she once knew.   
“Why did you come back?” She said finally as she continued to take in the same strong features just as elegant as she remembered. The warmth of his touch was a brief reprieve of the cooling night only strengthened when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him.  
She knew this feeling, a parade of butterflies swimming in her stomach as he leaned in closer and as she felt them find their escape, Loki’s lips met hers in a push of fire and bravery.  
It was unlike anything she could ever recall experiencing- more than her first crush, or college acceptance letter. More than the understanding of a new language or winning an award. A wave of extreme relief and acceptance. Something she felt she longed for her entire life.  
He pulled her closer, lips claiming hers, giving into her returned longing as they kissed. He felt free. More free than he could have managed to express into words and now that he had this one thing, he wasn’t going to let her go.   
“I was a fool to treat you the way I did, and I am truly sorry.” He spoke softly, retaking her hand in his and held her close as she rested her face against his chest in a moment under the stars.  
“I’ve thought of you everyday since Thor took you back to Asgard.”  
“I’m here now. There is no allegiance greater than sacrificing what I’ve found with you...”  
————

Evan looked back up from her position, listening to Thor, six months later, as he reenacted the sounds of Loki’s death and him sobbing over him, Stark wide eyed and just as unhumoured as Evan was.  
“It hit you pretty hard, did it Prison Break?” Stark apprehensively grabbed for his screwdriver again and went back to working as Thor took a free seat and shrugged.  
“There seemed to be… what’s the proper way to go about saying it- someone or something on his mind. Like he wasn’t doing it for himself.” It was the offhand tone of his voice that made Evan side eye him as she continued on the helmet, God of Thunder questioningly eyeing a piece of art on the wall.

{Abnormal heart rate detected, Doctor. Shall I run a body scan?}

“I’m fine, Jarvis.”   
She cursed herself for a moment as she tried refocusing on what she was doing as Thor stood back up.

“Never knew Loki to have a girlfriend or what her name might have been, so there’s no trail for me to follow if that were the case.”  
“You mean a slimy weasel like him could have a chance with a woman? I’m stunned, honestly.” Stark said sarcastically as he held up the working bit of an arm plate.  
Evan’s screwdriver slipped as she over tightened in frustration and ended up gouging herself with the instrument.

{The dermis has been penetrated, Doctor. Shall I go on with a neurological diagnostic to attest nerve damage?}

She could hear the two continue on, laughing and mocking one another as she stared down at her bleeding hand.  
She sat for a moment before Jarvis chirped in her ear, Thor’s boisterous laughter hinging on her annoyance and she shook her head.  
“I’m fine. It’s nothing major.”

{Shall I run the algorithm for a Tetanus reaction ?}

“Yes, we can do that.”

Stark had made to say his goodbyes to the Asgardian as she stood, being mindful to not contaminate the visor of the helmet. Jarvis gave her the ok at the 0% possibility of infection, and she made to grab the first aid kit out of the drawer of his desk as she saw Thor turn back to her.  
“I am sorry I couldn’t be more helpful in getting information from him about the Scepter. If anything else suspicious or unusual might be along your line of interest, I’ll let you be the first to know.”  
——————  
It wasn’t until later that evening, moving their progress into the lab, that Stark made to say anything.  
Evan had tried refocusing her efforts on the helmet by switching from maintenance to polishing, which helped ease her frustration of the earlier situation.  
“Sooooo you've been awfully quiet since Thor left…. you doin’ okay?” Evan was somewhat surprised at his compassion, but rethinking on the years she’s spent with Stark and her time at the tower, she realized he was as close to a good friend as one might think.  
She stopped scrubbing for a moment to look over at him and the concern on his face was genuine as he cleaned off his hands.  
“Yeah, just thinking.”  
“In my personal experience,” he said this as his hands planted firmly to his chest, “you usually prattle on about x thing,” he pointed off to his left, “Or y thing,”and then to the right, “and currently it’s-“ he threw up his hands, imitating static.  
“Radio silence.” His arms dropped to his side as his brow furrowed in contemplation.  
“I’m just worried this might be getting to you harder than expected. It might not be that big of a deal.”  
Evan looked back to the helmet as she tried to find the best way to respond, her mind internally warring with itself as Stark came to stand beside her.  
“You’ve been off radar. Offline. Disconnected.” He shrugged and she looked up to him from her seat.  
“I’m just trying to figure out my next step is.” There was a truth she felt to her own words, which made her contemplate exactly what she should do next.  
“I have no other leads, so I’m kind of in the dark right now.”  
“Difficult when you’re the one everyone looks to for answers.” He gave an understandable nod and threw his towel to the empty seat across from her.  
“You’re the brains, Stark. I just help build suits.”  
“Oh no no no I don’t think so!” He shook his head as brows flew up unbelievably.  
“You’re the only reason we’ve made the strides we have. I can’t take the credit for everything. And you’re the person I’m going to for this Avengers bullshit, do you think I honestly know how to be a superhero?”  
“Jesus Tony, what makes you think I do? I’m not wearing these, you are.” She threw the helmet up to him before she stood, Stark fumbling with it before watching her grab for her bag and coat.  
“Hey, I’m not done!” When she turned she felt his eyes pierce her more threateningly than he might have intended but she didn’t let that intimidate her.  
“What do you want me to say? I don’t know, Tony. For the first time in being here, I don’t know.”  
“So you’re gonna give up on the theory? Just like you did with the teleporter?” He gave a somewhat snappy bob to the head with his remark and Evan eyed him, clearly hurt by it.  
“There’s no lead. Thor doesn’t know. Loki is dead. And I don’t have the Scepter. I don’t WANT the Scepter. I just want to know who it came from, and I now have no one to ask.” This is where she felt her lie, hidden between the anger and the bitter tone of her and Stark’s voices.  
“Look,” Tony relaxed his body as fingers came to the bridge of his nose and his eyes closed hard.  
“You’ve gathered more valuable information on the Tesseract AND the Scepter than anyone else. Even more than SHIELD. Just….” his hand dropped as his face looked back to her apologetically.  
“Don’t let this discourage you. I think you were on to something, and you’re too smart to let this one thing stand in your way.”   
Evan’s face betrayed her surprise as Stark smiled back to her and she let the tension pass.  
“Thank you, Mr. Stark. I’m just…. at a crossroads at the moment.”  
“Think it over this weekend. I’ll go back over the files and see if I can’t find something we may have missed.” She nodded, adjusting her bag as he made to put down the helmet at his station.  
“I’ll do the same.”   
She watched as Stark made to sit down, the familiar colours of the Scepter and Tesseract pulling up on his screen before looking back to her.  
“If anyone can find the missing piece, it’s you.”  
—————-  
As she pushed through the glass door to ascend the staircase, she was met with the vision of   
Pepper on her way down.  
“Gosh, you’re just now leaving?” Her voice was surprised as she checked her watch and Evan gave an apathetic nod.  
“I usually head out about this time on Fridays, and there’s more work to be done when I get home, so…” She shrugged and Pepper gave a disapproving shake of her head.  
“Honestly, he has plenty of suits, he shouldn’t press you so hard-“  
“No, Pepper, it’s about the Scepter.” She tried to correct her before she could push past her to interrogate Stark and looking back she seemed even more displeased.  
“Why, did something happen?”  
“Thor came by to tell us his brother had died during the convergence. He was a probable lead in finding out its origin. If it was at all like the Tesseract.” Pepper made to say something but closed her lips before looking back to her watch.  
“Well, don’t worry about that right now, I’ll…. I’ll talk to Tony. You have so much you’re already doing for us so just try to enjoy your weekend, ok?” Pepper grabbed her wrist gently in an apologetic gesture and Evan smiled and nodded.  
“You’re the boss, ma’am.” They hugged briefly before saying their goodbyes, Pepper quick to dip under her as Evan made her ascension from the stairs and out to her weekend.  
She wasn’t going to not work this weekend, but she knew she had the ace in her sleeve she needed, and for the first time since reuniting, she was going to ask Loki about the Scepter.


End file.
